COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST: POLI 356 (STRATEGIES OF AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT)

      COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST: POLI 356                            (STRATEGIES OF AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT)

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON

POLI 356: STRATEGIES OF AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT

SECOND SEMESTER, 2014 / 2015 ACADEMIC YEAR

LECTURER:  DR. RANSFORD EDWARD VAN GYAMPO

Tel: 0244277275, Email:  vangyampo@yahoo.com or revgyampo@ug.edu.gh

COURSE INTRODUCTION:

Welcome to POLI 356: Strategies of African Development. The Course begins with a thorough examination of the challenges facing contemporary sub-Saharan African development and a comprehensive review of leading explanations (with particular emphasis on the two rival theories of under-development – Dependency and Modernization Theory) given for perceived failures and successes. The second part identifies and analyzes the main strategies adopted for overcoming the challenges facing African development. The experience of Ghana (and other African countries) is analyzed in detail to illustrate the strengths and gains, weaknesses and challenges associated with various developmental options. Some of the options for African development that may be interrogated include Import Substitution Industrialization, Structural Adjustment Programmes, NEPAD, Millennium Development Goals, Debt Cancellation or HIPC Initiative, Regional Integration and Political Conditionalities (demand for democracy and good governance), etc,

COURSE OBJECTIVES

By the time you are done with this Course, you should be able to:

a.             State and explain at least five challenges to development that confronted African states at the time of independence in the 1960s;

b.            Identify and explain at least two theories of under-development;

c.             Identify which of the theories of under-development best explains the status of African countries and give justification for your choice;

d.            Explain the strengths, weaknesses, trade-offs and prospects associated with at least four developmental strategies pursued by African countries since independence; and

e.             Explain the linkage or otherwise between Democracy, Good Governance (Political Conditionalities) and Development.

COURSE OUTLINE AND SUGGESTED READINGS

A. The Socio-Economic and Political Dimensions of the African Development Challenge.

1.             Gyampo, R. E. V. The State of Political Institutions in Ghana (Saarbrucken, Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing).

2.             Handelman, Howard, The Challenge of Third World Development, Fourth Edition, (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2006).

3.             UNDP Human Development Report 2009.

4.              Rimmer, Douglas, Africa: 30 Years On, (London: James Currey, 1991)

5.             Sandbrook, Richard, Closing the Cycle: Democratization and Development in Africa(London: Zed Books, 2000).

6.             Collier, Paul, The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).

7.             Kousari, Kamran “Africa’s Woes- Homegrown or Externally Induced” Europe’s World, (Spring 2006) pp 157-162.

8.             Easterly, William “ The Utopian Nightmare”, Foreign Policy (September/ October 2005, pp58-64.

9.             Cooper, Frederick. Africa since 1940: The Past of the Present,. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002).

B. Theoretical Explanations of African Under-Development

1.             Handelman, Howard, The Challenge of Third World Development, Fourth Edition, (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2006).

2.             Roxborough, Ian. Theories of Under Development. (London: Macmillan Education Ltd, 1988).

3.             Frank, Andre, Gunder, "The Development of Underdevelopment," in James D. Cockcroft, Andre Gunder Frank, and Dale Johnson, eds., Dependence and Underdevelopment. (New York: Anchor Books, 1972).

4.             Collier, Paul, The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).

5.             Kousari, Kamran “Africa’s Woes- Homegrown or Externally Induced” Europe’s World, (Spring 2006) pp 157-162.

6.             Lockwood, Mathhew, The State They’re In: An Agenda for International Action on Poverty in Africa, (Warwickshire: International Technology Development Group Ltd, 2005).

C. African Development Strategies

1.             The Lagos Plan of Action for the Economic Development of Africa, 1998-2000, (Geneva: ILO, 1980).

2.             World Bank, Accelerated Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Agenda, (Washington, DC: World Bank, 1981).

3.             Our Common Future, Report of the Africa Commission, 2005

4.             Rothchild, Donald ed., Ghana: The Political Economy of Recovery (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1991)

5.             Gyimah-Boadi E. ed., Ghana Under PNDC Rule, ( Dakar: CODESRIA Book Series, 1993).

6.             Leftwich, Andrian “Governance, Democracy and Development in Third Word”, Third WorldQuarterly, Vol. 14. No. 3 (1993) pp605-624.

7.             The Millennium Development Goals 2000

8.             Armah, Bartholomew, “Should Ghana Go HIPC”? IEA Legislative Alert Series, Vol. 1, No. 3 (March 2001) pp 1-15

9.             Ayittey, George, “NEPAD and Africa’s Leaking Begging Bowl”, IEA Policy Analysis SeriesVol. 3 No. 5. (February 2005) pp 1-13

REQUIREMENTS

1.             Students of Political Institutions are required to consult at least 70% of the relevant reading materials on the suggested reading list above. Extensive Reading is aMUST  for the course

2.             Students are also required to regularly attend Tutorials and make meaningful contributions to discussions as this would count towards their grading in the end of semester examination.

3.             There would be 13 weeks of Lectures and students must endeavour to attend lectures regularly. The course is not done by correspondence